Four games against teams that qualified for the 2012 NCAA tournament highlight the 2013 Navy men's lacrosse schedule, released Tuesday. The Midshipmen will host six home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, including an April 5 contest against Maryland, the NCAA finalist the past two seasons.

"We are excited about the challenge our 2013 schedule presents," said coach Rick Sowell, who guided the Midshipmen to a 6-6 record in his first season and featured wins over nationally ranked Colgate and Johns Hopkins. "Parity in Division I lacrosse is at an all-time high, and we'll need to be on top of our game each and every week."

After a pair of scrimmages on the road against Duke and Virginia, Navy will play its season opener against Virginia Military Institute for the sixth consecutive year Feb. 9 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Midshipmen will play the first of two new opponents on its 2013 schedule with a Friday, Feb. 15 contest against Detroit in Annapolis. The Titans are in their fifth year as a Division I program.

Four days later, Navy will travel to Fairfield for the inaugural meeting between the two programs. The Stags won a program-record 12 games in 2012 and twice reached a program-best national ranking of No. 13 during the year.

The Fairfield contest kicks off three consecutive road games for the Midshipmen. After its Tuesday matchup against the Stags, Navy rekindles its series with Georgetown on Sunday, Feb. 24. A scheduling glitch in moving Patriot League foe Lehigh from a week day to a weekend pushed the annual tilt between the Mids and Hoyas off last spring's schedule.

The Midshipmen begin their quest for the program's sixth Patriot League title when they travel to Lewisburg, Pa., on Saturday, March 2. Navy will face Bucknell in their league opener for the fifth time overall and the fourth time in the last five years.

Navy plays its next three games over the course of just eight days with two of the three contests played in Annapolis. Kicking things off will be a March 9 contest at home against Lafayette, a program Navy owns a 13-1 series record against. Three days later (March 12), the Mids will briefly step away from Patriot League action to host Towson.

Navy plays its final game over the eight-day span on the road, traveling to Worcester, Mass. to face Patriot League foe Holy Cross. This year's Navy-Colgate matchup is slated to be played at M&T Bank Stadium on March 23 as part of the 2013 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic. The Face-Off Classic will feature the Mids and Raiders in the opener at 2 p.m., followed by Virginia vs. Johns Hopkins at 4:30 p.m.

"We are thrilled to participate in the 2013 Konica Minolta Face Off Classic," Sowell said. "To have the opportunity to play before a national audience at such a premier venue, M&T Bank Stadium, against a strong conference opponent is what every coach asks for. Colgate had a great season last year and returns a very good team in 2013, if not better than the quarterfinal team of 2012. If this game is anything like last year's, then the fans are in for a real treat."

Navy will travel to Lehigh on March 30 in what will be the fourth game played in Bethlehem between the two programs in the last five years. The Mids own a 28-3 series advantage against the Mountain Hawks, who a year ago finished 14-3 and earned an NCAA tournament berth by way of winning the Patriot League tournament.

Fans have been treated to some great battles between Maryland and Navy over the last decade and on April 5 the rivalry will continue as the two meet at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. While the two programs have met 87 times, they have battled in each of the last 67 years which is the second-longest continuous series Navy has with another team (Army, 80-consecutive years). Eight of the last 14 games between the two have been decided by one goal, while five of the last seven battles in Annapolis have been decided by two or fewer goals.

One of the sport's longest and most cherished rivalries, the Army-Navy Star Game will be played on Saturday, April 13 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis in what will be the 92nd meeting between the two service academies. The Mids own a 57-31-3 series advantage, including wins in 14 of the last 19 games.

For the 10th straight year, Navy will close out the regular season by facing Johns Hopkins on April 20. After losing 36 consecutive games to the Blue Jays from 1975 to 2009, the Midshipmen have taken two of the last three from Johns Hopkins, including an 8-2 route in Annapolis last spring. Navy, though, has not been able to enjoy a win at Homewood Field since 1969 when the Mids claimed a 9-6 win.

Former Baltimore Bayhawk Brian Small (Calvert Hall) will be the head coach of the John Carroll University men's lacrosse program, which will begin play for the first time in the spring of 2014. His tenure will begin effective immediately.

“Brian provides the right mix of experiences in collegiate lacrosse and the enthusiasm for building the program here at John Carroll,” athletic director Laurie Massa said. “He has worked hard to develop as a coach and recruiter, and his connections in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions will serve us well. We are excited to have him join our staff, in our pursuit of championship lacrosse.”

A Baltimore native, Small was a four-year letter-winner for the Ohio Wesleyan lacrosse team from 2002 to 2005 before embarking on a coaching career that included stops at his alma mater, Sacred Heart University and most recently Quinnipiac.

“It is a rare opportunity to be the first anything, so I am very excited to be the first coach in the history of varsity men’s lacrosse at John Carroll University,” Small said. “With the academic standards and athletic tradition in place here, I really felt this would be a good fit for me.”

After college, Small first pursued coaching as the head of the Baltimore County Public Schools varsity team for three seasons. He also gave professional lacrosse a try, suiting up for Major League Lacrosse’s Bayhawks in 2006.

Gigliotti commits to VMI

Mount St. Joseph junior midfielder-faceoff specialist Matthew Gigliotti has orally committed to VMI, according to Inside Lacrosse. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound recruit participated in the Freestate Games, Baltimore Summer Kickoff, UPLax, MVP and Brine Shootout. He also considered High Point, Salisbury, Lehigh and Villanova.